I am me
by AJLuvsFiction
Summary: When Sora releases Aqua, Terra, and Ven from their prisons and sets Roxas and Namine free to live their own lives, Ven and Roxas live together as twin brothers, fighting alongside the others as Keyblade Wielders. Takes place after the events of (what I assume will happen in) KH3.
1. We're brothers, right?

Roxas woke up late on a Monday morning, searching for his older twin brother Ventus in a worried panic as he stood up. He could smell something cooking downstairs, so after getting dressed and putting on his signature checkered wristband and white and black rings, he went down to eat.

"You're finally awake?" Ven asked with a smile, placing a plate of food down for Roxas.

"Yeah... Sorry, Ven, I've just been really tired lately."

"I know it's hard suddenly having your own life again... Trust me, I know... But, we'll work through it together, okay?" Ven said to cheer his brother up and was delighted to see Roxas actually smile. As the younger boy quickly ate, Ven reminded him about their first day of school. Usually, the group of Keyblade wielders were under the cover of being home-schooled or participating in a private school, but this time Master Yen Sid had insisted on going to school like regular kids. Roxas and Ven both received an identical text from their good friend Sora reminding them to meet at the Usual Spot, a place the gang visited often to see Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Making their way out of the door with their bags, the blond twins hurried to meet up with their friends, anxious to start school.

"Hey! You guys finally made it!" Sora exclaimed cheerfully as he always seemed to be, before laying a hand on Roxas's shoulder.

"You're okay, right?" Sora asked, he had always been able to sense if something was up with Roxas since he had been given his own heart. The two boys were very close, considering Roxas had been the vessel for Sora to return to his full self.

"I'm okay. This all seems like a dream, you know? The better things get, the more I'm afraid it will all just disappear..."

"That isn't going to happen! I promise!" Sora grinned and was able to make Roxas do the same. Sora always possessed the uncanny ability to cheer anybody up, even in the most dire of situations. Roxas and Ven said their hellos to Hayner, Pence, and Olette before sitting down and waiting for Kairi, Namine, Riku, Terra, and Aqua to arrive. Terra and Aqua were beginning school as seniors, while the rest of the kids were going in as Freshmen. Everyone had arrived and began their walk to school, when suddenly dark shadows had appeared on the ground.

'N-No! They weren't supposed to return so soon...!' Roxas was terrified, he didn't believe he had the power to wield the Keyblade anymore... All he ever was was a vessel for Sora, he was empty now. Nothing. Ven and the rest summoned their Keyblades with lightning speed, as they made slashes through the ever-increasing numbers. Hayner and the rest stayed behind, doing their best to warn their friends of the enemies' locations.

"Roxas! You can do this, I believe in you!" Ven shouted to his brother and gasped in excited surprise as Roxas was able to summon his dual Keyblades: Oblivion and Oathkeeper for the first time since he had been given a heart of his own. The twins were a lightning fast duo, slashing through the ranks like they were nothing. Kairi and Aqua did their best to cast _Cure_ and _Barrier_ spells whenever necessary, and the heartless were gone before long.

"I knew you could do it!" and similar praises came from the gang and for the first time in awhile, Roxas felt less empty. He felt real.

As the group made their way into the first class on their schedule, Roxas and Ven were glad to see that Sora would be in their class. The others reported to their own classes as Riku reminded the group that if anything happened, everyone was simply a phone call away. The teacher introduced the class to the three new students, and seemed to take extra delight in the fact that Roxas and Ven were twins, before asking them to introduce themselves.

"Hello everyone, I'm Ventus, but you can call me Ven... And this is my younger twin Roxas. If you want to tell us apart, Roxas wears that checkered wristband... Nice to meet you all." Ven finished his little speech and the three boys made their way to their seats. Thankfully, they all were able to sit next to each other as they did their best to take in all of the new information that was being delivered at what felt like light-speed.

-  
_[Second Period]_

"Oh... Hi, Roxas." Namine greeted the boy shyly as she sat down next to him in the Math class that they apparently shared.

"Hey, Namine. How's your first day so far?" Roxas smiled and tried to make conversation with the shy girl.

"Not as bad as I thought it would be, actually. I'm glad I have at least one class with you..." Namine blushed slightly as she said this and was glad to see Roxas smile and blush back.

"Me too."

Kairi walked in a moment or two before the bell rang and took an open seat, she waved to Roxas and Namine before she sat her things down. Wondering where Sora was right now, Kairi sighed and looked out of the window at the beautiful day outside.

"-Signed by a parent or guardian and returned to me tomorrow." Kairi tuned in just in time to catch the end of that sentence, and made her way up to the front of the room to grab the paper like the rest of her classmates. Roxas grabbed three and handed a copy to both Kairi and Namine as the trio made their way out of class and down towards where the cafeteria was located. Upon walking in, Ven waved towards them to lead them to the table their group had chosen. Ven noticed Roxas seemed a bit tense and asked if he was okay.

"I'm alright, just a bit nervous to be near this many people..." the nervous younger twin responded quietly before standing up suddenly as is something was wrong. Suddenly, the entire room became enveloped in darkness and Aqua quickly responded with a powerful _Stopaga_ spell to stop any of the regular students from seeing what came next. The group summoned their Keyblades and were greeted by several Shadow and Knight heartless. Dashing forward with both blades behind him, Roxas made a criss-cross slash and vanquished two heartless quickly, before Ven followed his example and did the same with his like-the-wind backhand style, casting _Aero_ in order to line up a group for slashing. Sora and Riku were back to back, blocking any of the slashes from the Knight heartless before Riku resorted to casting _Dark Fire _on a few them.

"My stop spell isn't going to last much longer, we need to finish this up quick!" Aqua yelled, casting several _Thundara _spells in quick succession wiping out the remaining Shadow Heartless. The group sat back down just in time for the spell to wear off, and the students inside of the cafeteria moved on as if nothing had happened. Roxas couldn't help but laugh and the rest of the group couldn't help but join in.

Making their way back into the door of their apartment building in Twilight Town, Roxas and Ven were surprised to see an enveloped from Yen Sid filled with what he was calling their allowance, loaded with 3,000 munny each.

"Whoa!" Roxas exclaimed with a large, innocent smile on his face. Ven was happy to see him back to his normal self, which made him a bit happier than the money he had just received. The two brothers walked over the magic mirror hanging in their living room, giving a quick thank you to Yen Sid before they made their way off to bed.

"I call top bunk!"

"W- What?! No fair, Rox! I wanted top bunk this time!"

"You got it last time!"

'I'm glad to have a brother. I'm glad to have a life. I guess I'm just... Glad...' Roxas was deep in thought as he did his best to fall asleep, but found it difficult because he couldn't stop smiling. Eventually, Roxas passed out from the exhaustion of the day... in the bottom bunk.

* * *

_*Chapter Completed_*

_- Thank you so much for reading! Any reviews would be much appreciated! I'm a very spontaneous writer, so my chapters are usually improved on the spot, so check in often! -_

_Characters are owned by Square Enix and Disney, not me!_


	2. What to do with this life?

Waking up in a daze, Roxas turned and saw Ven sitting at his desk completing some last minute homework. Standing up and making a bit of additional noise to let Ven know he was awake, Roxas asked something that had been on his mind.

"How did you ever get used to this?"

"Used to what?"

"Waking up in a daze and seeing someone that looks identical to you? I'm surprised I'm not freaking out."

"I'm not sure, really... I don't really look at you as someone who looks like me... I got used to seeing you as Roxas."

"Does that help?"

"It helps a lot."

Getting his twin crisis out of the way, Roxas quickly got ready for school, making sure he had remember to complete his homework the night before. A surprise text from Namine startled Roxas, and unfortunately for him, Ven knew exactly who it was from based on the fact that Roxas was blushing.

"Text from Namine, Rox?" Ven was smiling and started laughing as Roxas's cheeks only got redder.

"What makes you think that?!" Roxas said, failing to sound nonchalant.

'Don't forget we have a a test later today Roxas! :)'

Roxas smiled as he read the text before he sent a reply:

'Thanks for the heads up Nami :) c u in class!'

"I'll take the smile as a yes. Let's get going, okay?"

"Y-Yeah, Ven. She was reminding me that we have a test today."

"Well, you better get a good score. I don't wanna have you scold you, little brother." Ven stuck his tongue out as he shut the bedroom door behind him.

Roxas was waving goodbye to Ven and Sora as he headed to his second period class, anxious to see Namine again. As he made his way in through the door, he waited and waited but Namine never showed. His heart sank a little before he noticed that Kairi hadn't shown up either. Sadness quickly turned into worry, so he decided to do something reckless. Summoning Oathkeeper under his desk, Roxas cast the strongest _Stop_ spell he could accomplish, something he had tried his best to learn from Aqua. Roxas's affinity wasn't exactly with Magic, but lay more with his speed, just like his brother. Grabbing his cell, he sent Sora and Riku a text asking if either of them had heard from Kairi and Namine since this morning, and frighteningly, both boys sent back a no.

'whats going on rox? do you think we should call the others?' Roxas scanned the message quickly and racked his brain for an answer, he shot a text to Kairi and Namine again, but still received no answer.

'yes. I think this could be serious.'

The gang had gathered outside the gates of the school, and were discussing the best places to search for their two missing members. Ven could see that both Roxas and Sora were very distressed and weren't thinking clearly... Not that Sora was the best thinker in his normal state... Always one step ahead of the game, Aqua had everyone who knew how cast a powerful conjoined _stop_ spell in order to keep the school frozen while they searched for their friends.

"Hey. You going to be alright?"

Roxas looked up at his older twin and could tell he was genuinely concerned, which was yet another reason to be impressed with his older brother, a heart devoid of darkness indeed.

"I'm okay. Just worried about them is all... I keep thinking about what happened between our little text conversation this morning and now..."

Aqua had begun casting a spell that was supposed to locate those you had a connection to in your heart, and chose Roxas and Sora to be the "lightning beacons". Both boys were surprised to suddenly have this feeling deep in their heart that seemed to be pulling them somewhere. The group ran towards the pull and were shocked to see a large Heartless that looked a lot like Darkside, a powerful Heartless that Sora has battled multiple times, holding both Namine and Kairi inside of a large cage it carried in the heart-shaped hole in it's chest.

Roxas was the first to charge, leaping high into the air and performing an X-slash on the creature's head, and narrowly avoiding a powerful swipe. Sora sent a strike raid at the creature's face while Ven and Riku were clearing the Shadow Heartless away from the pools of darkness the Darkside had summoned. Aqua and Terra decided to focus on the cage, and sent several spells and Blitz attacks towards the bars. Suddenly, Kairi awoke to find herself trapped, with all of her friends fighting to save her. She shook Namine awake and stood up, summoning her Keyblade and pointing it towards the bars.

"I'm sick of this damsel-in-distress game! _Deep freeze_!" Kairi yelled as she cast _Blizzara_ on the bars, causing them to freeze into a chunk of ice that fell apart with one strike from her Keyblade. With Namine and Kairi safely on the ground, Roxas and Sora breathed a sigh of relief before the two ran next to each other with a plan.

"I have your memories, so I believe I can cast the same spells!"

"I think I know exactly what you're thinking!"

The two joined hands, Roxas sent Oblivion away and spun the Keyblade in the air before catching it and pointing it at the monster at the exact same time as Sora, suddenly, a blast of several glowing energies shot to the monster at high speed. _Ragnarok_. The monster was hurt, but not out as everyone prepared for one last charge. All of the Keyblade wielders rushed forward, delivering one last slash simultaneously, ending the monster once and for all.

"Namine! Kairi! You two okay?" Roxas ran over to check on the two girls, wondering how they got captured in the first place.

"We're okay... Thanks for saving us you guys..." Namine was smiling and Roxas was glad to see that she was okay. The group returned to their classes before the spell wore off and the rest of the day progressed as normal.

-  
_[Flashback]_

Master Yen Sid was leading a very confused Roxas into an apartment he had set up for him to live. Roxas had just recently received his own heart, so his memories and mind were a bit broken at the moment. The boy had barely said two words since he had returned.

"Ventus! I have someone I would like you to meet."

"So this is this Roxas I've heard so much about?" Ventus smiled and noticed the rather blank look in Roxas's eyes.

"Indeed. He was created when your heart lay dormant in Sora, and that fact appears to have given him a similar appearance to you."

"I was wondering why he was dashingly handsome." Ven cracked a joke and gasped in surprise as Roxas actually laughed.

"Y-You're V-Ventus... Right?"

"Y-Yeah! We're brothers now, okay?"

"We... We are?"

"Yeah. We've got to stick together!" Ventus said as he stuck out his hand, Roxas shook that hand and made a promise. That no matter what, they would be there for each other. Yen Sid was glad to see Roxas beginning to return to himself, and silently praised himself on the idea to bring the two identical boys together.

"You two will live here together, as brothers. You will attend school in about one month with the others. All of you stopped a great evil, but unfortunately, the darkness is people's hearts hasn't completely faded. There will always be heartless to face."

"That's okay. We'll just have to take them out!" Ven was surprisingly cheerful about the whole ordeal, and that excitement was copied by Roxas who was beginning to remember how to feel.

-  
[_Present_]

Roxas was hanging out at the sandlot with Hayner, preparing for the upcoming struggle match. They had done something similar to this before, but that was when Roxas was inside of the Data Twilight Town. Hayner couldn't quite understand how all of that worked, but he couldn't help but think how accurate the world seemed to have been. After all, this struggle contest was something Hayner always looked forward to, and the thought that someone knew exactly how Hayner acted began to scare him.

"I know you're used to fighting dual wielded... Maybe if you copy Sora's stance you'll do better?" Ven's advice from earlier today echoed in Roxas's head before he decided to try it on the practice dummy. Muscle memory seemed to take over, and Roxas was amazed with how well this new plan was working. As he landed a final blow on the dummy, Seifer walked onto the lot with his usual above-it-all attitude.

"What do YOU want, Seifer? We're training here..." Hayner asked, clearly annoyed.

"You call that training? Why do you lamers even try?" Seifer tried to get into their heads, but it wasn't working.

"Whatever, Seifer. I doubt you'll even make it far enough to face me."

As his back was turned, Seifer made a strike at Roxas with his struggle bat, but luckily, Hayner noticed the movement and tossed two light struggle bats to Roxas just in time, he turned with the bats in an X formation and blocked the swing. Performing a three hit combo with a right swing, left swing, and a whirling cross-strike, Roxas sent Seifer flying flat on his backside.

"Th-This isn't the end, Rucksack! Just wait for the games!" Seifer ran off, embarrassed, as the two friends couldn't stop laughing the entire way home.

"How did Struggle practice with Hayner go?" Ven was curious to hear if his idea had worked, but didn't want to seem to anxious and ask about that straight away.

"Great, actually. I tried to emulate Sora like you said, but then Seifer showed up and tried to surprise attack me."

"Oh, no! Was everything okay?"

"Yeah, Hayner saw it coming and tossed me two bats. Knocked Seifer flat on his butt."

"Awesome!" Ven high-fived his brother, glad to hear that Seifer finally got what he deserved.

"Well, I'm going to bed. Night..."

"Night, Rox. I've got a bit of homework to finish."

As Roxas lay in bed and closed his eyes, Ventus checked his text messages again to verify that the plan was moving smoothly.

'I've got a nice surprise for you, little bro. I just hope it all goes as planned...'

* * *

_*Chapter Completed*_  
_[ Gave a bit of back-story on Ven and Roxas's past. As we can see, they've only been together for about a month and aren't exactly blood related. But they're connected, and are as close as brothers can be. Ven's little surprise for Roxas will be elaborated more in the next chapter, and we may even see the results of the Struggle match! ]_

_- Thank you so much for reading! Any reviews would be much appreciated! I'm a very spontaneous writer, so my chapters are usually improved on the spot, so check in often! -_

_Characters are owned by Square Enix and Disney, not me!_


	3. So many worlds out there

"Rox... Hey, Rox! Wake up..." Ventus tried his hardest to wake up his sleeping brother, but sleeping beauty just wouldn't budge. Suddenly, an evil idea entered Ventus's mind, and the wheels inside of his mind began turning.

"Oh, well... Guess I'll just tell Namine to call back later..."

"Wait, What?!" Roxas shot up from his slumber and saw Ven rolling on the floor laughing.

"You're too easy! Look, I needed to wake you up... You've got your struggle match later today, so I thought we could hang out on the clock tower and eat ice cream."

"Okay... That sounds great." Roxas flashed a grin as he made his way over to his dresser to prepare.

* * *

On the edge of the tower, the two golden blonds sat eating sea-salt ice cream, discussing their plans for the week and how school was going for the both of them. Suddenly, Roxas looked like there was something bugging him.

"Everything okay?"

"Y-Yeah... Fine..."

"Come on, Rox... You can tell me..."

"It's just... I think that I get it now. I was never supposed to exist-"

"Don't say stuff like that Roxas..."

"You didn't let me finish. I wasn't supposed to exist... But that doesn't mean I don't have the right to!"

"T-That's a great way to look at it. I'm glad you're finally happy, Rox. I hated to see you look so lost..."

"R-Really?"

"Of course! We're brothers, pea-brain." Ven winked and smiled to show he was only joking before asking, "What exactly do you want to do with this life, Rox? You're finally your own person!"

"Yeah! But you know what? Oddly enough, all I want to do is follow in you and Sora's footsteps. I want to see places... Make new friends!"

Ven remembered several years ago when he had gone on a huge search for Terra and Aqua, back when Master Xehanort wanted to tear the three apart. Ven had made the same resolve, to see the world and make friends after he had gotten into a small fight with his two best friends. Seeing the excited boy before him, Ven could only cheer the boy on.

"I'm happy to hear you say that... Because I have a small surprise for you..."

Roxas looked up from his dripping ice cream with a quizzical look on his face. "Huh?"

"You know that we have a break from school next week... Right? Well, during that break, Yen Sid wanted Sora to pay a visit to some of the worlds he has visited to make sure everything is okay... Sora wanted you and I to come along."

"W-What about Donald...? A-And Goofy?"

"They're busy working for King Mickey! What do you say? Want to do this?"

"Of course!" Roxas said excitedly as he stood up on the ledge. "I'm going to show everyone just how strong I can be, and make some new friends while doing it!"

"Well, the bell is about to ring, so let's get to school. We can talk more later."

The twins made their way to school, both of them anxious for their upcoming journey.

* * *

[_First Period]_

"How did you do on the test, Sora?" Ventus asked quietly during a break in instruction.

"H-Huh? Oh... That... I think I got a C." Sora wasn't too happy with his results, but cheered up talking about their upcoming adventure. Listing the worlds he wanted to visit, Roxas seemed deep in thought after Sora mentioned the Colosseum.

"I wonder how Herc and Phil are doing..." Roxas asked mainly to himself, but was overheard by Ven.

"You guys know Herc and Phil too?"

"Only from Sora's memories... You've met them too?"

"Yeah, I met them before Phil even began training Herc. He made him do all kinds of things to prove himself, it was kind of funny..."

"Wow, you're ooolllddd Ven!" Sora exclaimed while giggling.

"Th-Thanks, Sora..."

"Oops, sorry... I didn't mean..."

"It's fine..."

* * *

[STRUGGLE]

Roxas did his best to just breathe, trying to calm his nerves. Eventually, Hayner noticed how tense he seemed to be and assured him that everything would be fine.

"Chill, man... You said we did this before, and you even WON. You'll be fine, I promise!" Hayner flashed a thumbs up and Roxas calmed down slightly.

"Yeah... Yeah, you're right. I got nothing to worry about." Roxas said waving to his friends who were sitting on the sidelines. Ven mouthed "Kick some butt." and Roxas smiled and nodded.

"ALRIGHT! FIRST MATCH IS ROXAS VS... VIVI!"

'This is so weird... Even though it's been so long, everything is happening just like it did then... Guess being friends with Hayner and doing this contest was destiny, huh?'

Sidestepping away from a powerful aerial windmill from Vivi, Roxas tried something a bit risky. He rushed behind Vivi and began spinning the struggle bat upwards in his hand, launching a powerful uppercut slash on his small, but powerful opponent several times, before Vivi made a recovery and made great distance between him and Roxas. The blond Keyblade wielder felt like something was wrong and gasped in shock as the Vivi before him vanished. As he felt a presence behind him, he twisted around, flipping his bat around and holding it the way Ven usually does, blocking the strike perfectly. Quickly, Roxas performed a powerful spinning launch, knocking the remaining struggle orbs out of Vivi and winning the first match.

"Way to go, Rox!" Sora cheered from the stands as all of Roxas's friends stood up to congratulate him. Kairi pointed behind Roxas and muttered a "Watch out!" as Roxas quickly reacted and blocked a ball that had been thrown at him from Seifer's direction.

"Work on your aim, hotshot." Roxas muttered behind him, causing the audience to burst out laughing and Seifer to duck down in embarrassment.

"Thanks, Kairi."

"No problem. About time that jerk got what was coming to him." Kairi smiled and looked at Sora who was trying to hold back laughter at Seifer's very red face.

Roxas sat down next to Ven as the group was now watching Hayner's match against Rai, one of the members of Seifer's little gang. Rai isn't very bright, but certainly has strength, rushing at Hayner at every opportunity. Unfortunately for the boy, Hayner's speed leaves him usually missing, and the match is short-lived as Rai stumbles, allowing Hayner to lay down a quick combo on him, knocking out several orbs just in the time for the match to end. The match was close, with Hayner winning by a seven orb difference.

"Nice work, Hayner!" shouted Pence, Olette, and Roxas in unison. A fact that made the three laugh as Hayner made his way to the seat next to Olette.

Finally at the last match of the competition, Roxas is preparing to verse Setzer, the raining champion of the last few Struggles, after making quick work of Seifer, who was too overconfident to even pose a challenge in their match. 'Deja vu...' Roxas thought to himself, noticing that nearly all of Setzer's insults and self-praising was identical to how they were in the data world. 'They really got this guy spot on, huh?' Roxas laughed at the thought before making a running dash at Setzer and knocking him flat on his back, while he was too busy blowing kisses into the crowd.

"Ah, ah, ah... It's impolite to not pay attention to your opponent." Roxas wagged a finger and waited for Setzer to recover. Clashing bats multiple times, the two seemed equally matched. Roxas swiped the bat at Setzer's feet only to have him jump and avoid the blow, launching a vertical strike in retaliation. Roxas felt the force of the strike as he blocked it, losing his footing slightly.

"Come on, Roxas! You can do it!" Namine yelled her encouragements out from the crowd, before quickly covering her mouth at her uncharacteristic outburst. Hearing Namine cheer him on refreshed Roxas's desire to win, as he quickly slid around to Setzer's side, jabbing him thrice in a quick combo, knocking him flat and sending his remaining few orbs on the ground just in time for the bell to ring.

"AND THE WINNER IS ROXAS!"

The crowd erupted in cheering, even the audience members who were previously in Setzer's little fan-club. Holding the large struggle trophy, Roxas couldn't stop grinning as he waved at the crowd and made his way over to join his friends and brother.

"I knew you could do it!" Ven exclaimed as he slapped Roxas on the shoulder in a congratulatory manner, before Sora began chuckling and said "I knew you could do it again!" As Sora tapped a finger on his temple, reminding Roxas that some of his memories of the Data World lay within Sora.

"Then I take it you know what happens next?"

"No... What?"

"We celebrate on the tower! Except this time I won't be falling off..."

"You did what?!" Aqua asked in shock before the gang started laughing, making their way towards the Twilight Clock tower for a celebration, but not without Sea-salt ice cream bars of course...

* * *

"So what was with the whole backwards bat thing?" Ven asked with a laugh.

"I don't even know... It just kind of happened. I didn't even feel like I was in the ring, I saw a glimpse of some place I've never seen before, except it wasn't me standing there... It was Ven."

"Wait... You can see Ven's past?" Terra asked curiously.

"I guess some of his memories went into my head when a piece of his heart went into me..." Roxas looked confused and slightly worried.

"Hey, relax. You've just got to make some memories of your own, okay?" Ven knew just what to say, cheering Roxas up again. 'Ven always knew just what to say... I guess having a pure heart comes in handy...' Roxas thought to himself.

"Well, we leave tomorrow you two. Anything that needs to be done, should be taken care of now." Sora said as he finished his ice cream pop.

"Y-You're leaving, Roxas?" Namine seemed worried.

"Yeah, I'm going out to see the world. I won't be too long though, I promise!" Roxas smiled and Namine couldn't stop herself from smiling back.

"Can you... Take pictures for me? I want to draw the worlds outside..."

"Totally!"

"Aren't you two cute together..." Ven whispered a little too loudly, causing Namine and Roxas to turn away and blush as the rest of the group laughed slightly at their expense. Regrouping at the bottom of the tower, everyone said their goodbyes and wished the three boys luck on their journey tomorrow, as Sora walked with the twins back to their apartment.

"Meet me at the train station in the morning. We can take the train to Yen Sid's and take the gummy ship from there!" Sora was excited about the trip and ran all the way back home, anxious to go to sleep so he could wake up for tomorrow.

"Night, little bro."

"Night..."

* * *

As the alarm clock rung loudly, Roxas woke up from what seemed like a nightmare. Fragments of the dream were slowly slipping away from him, but he knew it had something to do with Axel and Xion. Roxas shook the nightmare away, before he stood up and walked over to his closet where his old organization cloak still hung up. 'I miss you guys...' he thought to himself as he walked downstairs and saw Ven flipping pancakes.

"Huh..."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing... I just kind of expected you to hold the spatula backwards too..."

"Th-That wouldn't even work... Would it?" Ven quickly tried to flip a pancake with the backhand style but only succeeded in flinging it into the ceiling before catching it on a plate.

"The answer is no."

"Agreed." and the two boys laughed and laughed.

Rushing to the train station, Roxas and Ventus saw all of their friends waiting to wish them goodbye on their journey. Namine handed Roxas a camera to take with him, before she surprised him by giving him a hug. She held him tightly, as if she was more afraid to see him go than she had let on before.

"Good luck..."

"Thanks, I'll come back before you know it!"

A few feet away from them, Kairi was giving Sora her lucky charm once again.

"At least this time, you aren't going too far away... Right?"

"Yeah! It's only a short trip this time... Honest!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, all abbooarrrddd!" Ven yelled as he waved to everyone before looking at Terra and Aqua and holding up his Wayfinder as he smiled. The two understood the message, and waved back, knowing Ven would return safely to them.

* * *

"Sora!" Donald yelled from the entrance of Yen Sid's castle as the magic train screeched to a halt.

"Y-You guys? What are you doing here?" Sora said with an excited smile, not expected to see his best friends Donald and Goofy here.

"Gawrsh, King Mickey said it would be alright to stop by and wish you all good luck on your journey!" Goofy explained as he and Donald leaped into a large group hug with Sora and the twins.

"Y-You're... Cr... ushing... Me..." Roxas managed to choke out before they finally released their grip.

"S-Sorry, Roxas... You ARE Roxas, right?" Goofy asked, worried he had mistaken the twins again.

"Yeah!"

"I must be getting better at this, Donald! Hyuuk!" Goofy smiled at his ability to tell the twins apart for the first time.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah... Whatever!" Donald screeched out and the group of five made their way inside.

It didn't take long for the three Fairy Godmothers to force the three adventurers to allow them to give them new clothing. It's what they did best after all, but after a long time of deciding colors, the sisters finally stopped bickering and worked together. Zapping a better fitting version of Sora's original outfit, the two thought about what to do for the twins, who were currently wearing their usual school uniform that consisted of a white polo with the school's logo on the chest and khakis.

"Oh, dear... What shall we do for these two?"

"How about... This!" The red sister said, flicking her wand.

"No... This!"

Several different outfits of varying colors appeared on both boys magically, before the two of them said in unison: "Could you just... decide?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy laughed at their choice of words, remembering Sora say the same thing at the start of their second journey. Finally, the three godmothers pulled themselves together, zapping Roxas with a copy of Ventus's old battle attire, but in reverse colors. Ven was then zapped with the same, but in the outfits original colors.

"There! Fit for battle, and you can tell them apart!"

Roxas looked down before saying "I like..." flashing the three sisters a thumbs up and smiling.

"How did you...? You remembered?" Ven asked, surprised the sisters had remembered what his battle attire had looked like.

"Of course we remembered! You saved our precious Aurora... We could never forget you!" the three sisters said in unison as they wished the three boys good luck. Waving out of the window as the three sat in the Gummi ship, Sora, Roxas, and Ven sped off into the sky, about to explore the massive universe before them.

* * *

*CHAPTER COMPLETED*

- Thank you so much for reading! Any reviews would be much appreciated! I'm a very spontaneous writer, so my chapters are usually improved on the spot, so check in often! -

_Characters are owned by Square Enix and Disney, not me!_


	4. Reunions

As the Gummi ship hovered past several worlds, Sora, Roxas, and Ven decided to play Rock Paper Scissors to decide where to stop first. Ven won, much to Sora's annoyance, and chose a familiar looking world. Landing in a dark area that looked much like a cave, Sora and Ventus recognized it as Olympus. Roxas left the ship first to go look around, and stared in awe at the glowing stairway that lead to the Colosseum. Walking in a bit of a daze, the blond boy made his way up the stairs and saw a rather large man talking to a small red man who appeared to be half-goat! Both of them looked his way and seemed confused, before the small one spoke up.

"Hey, kid. Don't I know you?"

"Uh, you might know my brother, Ventus..." Roxas answered, slightly nervous.

"Ventus... Ventus! You're Ventus's brother? How is he?"

"Oh, he's fine. He should be here any minute!" Roxas relaxed a bit as he made his way over to the two strangers, he smiled and stuck out a hand.

"I'm Roxas. It's nice to meet you." And the two new faces accepted the handshake and introduced themselves too, just as Sora and Ven ran up the stairs looking for Roxas.

"Hey, Herc, Phil! Long time no see!" Sora exclaimed with his hands behind his head in his usual care-free pose. Ven ran forward to be next to Roxas and laughed a little at Hercules and Phil's confused reaction.

"We're twins, Phil. We look REALLY similar."

"Well, now I've seen everything!" Phil replied, causing the entire group to begin laughing.

"Anyway, about why we're here... Is everything okay? No heartless or nobodies running around?" Sora asked.

"Well, there are... They aren't nearly as bad as before, though!"

"That's good! Maybe we have nothing to worry about after all!"

"The games are beginning soon. How about you join them, Junior Hero?"

"J-Junior? Aw, come on Phil, I thought you said I was a hero now!"

"Nah, I don't see it..." Phil motioned over towards the two twins and had an evil look in his eye at the joke he was playing on Sora. "Now THESE two boys... That's the look of a hero." Playing along, Ven and Roxas struck heroic poses and tried not to laugh as Sora slumped over in disappointment.

Suddenly, a familiar face appeared in a blast of flame. Hades. He walked over to the group and eyed the boys he hadn't seen before.

"Ah, I see the twerp with the key has some new friends!"

"What do you want, Hades?" Sora asked with an angry look, summoning the Kingdom Key. Ven and Roxas followed suit, and prepared for a fight. Hades only let out a chuckle before responding: "Hey, calm down... I'm not looking for a fight, just wanted to talk to Phil about the games is all!"

"What could we possibly have to talk about?" Phil asked with an annoyed, but curious tone.

"Why, just a few things to make the games more interesting!" As Hades said this, his eyes shifted towards Roxas and his dual Keyblades. Something about the boy struck Hades as different, and looking for any darkness in the boy revealed a brief flash of Roxas dressed in a dark coat, like those members of that group. What did they call themselves again? Organization whatchamacallit?

"Not interested. Maybe I'll let you hold a secondary event afterwards, but for now I'd like you as far away from here as possible." Hercules stepped forward with the threat, to show that Phil meant business. Hades looked slightly worried and disappeared once again.

"Jeez, who was that guy?" Roxas asked, adopting Sora's laid-back pose. A fact that made Sora smile for a second before responding: "Trouble."

"Say, Ven... How come you look no different than when I was a kid?" Hercules asked the question that had been on his mind for a while now.

"Oh... I was kind of asleep for these past twelve years or so... It's a long story." Ventus responded with his head down and seemed pained to remember. Roxas put his hand on his shoulder and reminded him that it was all over now.

"I see, sorry for bringing it up."

"It's cool. You've certainly bulked up... Sure you're the same Herc?" Ven said with a laugh as Herc gave him a friendly pat on the back, nearly knocking him unconscious.

"Whoop... Sorry!"

Roxas looked off into the sky and seemed like he was in a trance, which worried Sora. Eventually, the blond spoke up and said "Let's get into those games! We going to be facing each other?"

"Actually, yes."

"Good. I can finally show Sora who's the better Other." Roxas said this with a grin, but suddenly looked at Sora with deadly serious eyes. Sora noticed a small blue flame that appeared in Roxas's right eye, and remembered that Hades had touched him on his way out.

"Wa-Wait, Roxas!" Sora called out as Roxas ran into the Colosseum as quickly as he could. Sora wasn't sure what was going to happen, but he was afraid that Hades had done something to Roxas. Was he just imagining it? Was Roxas just fine?

"What's up, Sora?" Ven asked, confused.

"Just... Keep an eye out for him okay? Something seems fishy..." Sora seemed deep in thought, but Ven nodded that he would.

Actually entering the stadium, Sora noticed that Roxas began acting normal again. The three boys sat in the stands as Hercules began battling countless monsters and heartless. Eventually, Phil announced that Roxas would be taking part in the next match. The audience cheered as Roxas took to the ring, anxious to see who he would be fighting. Several Red Nocturne heartless, flying creatures that attack with Elemental Fire spells, flooded the battlefield as Roxas summoned Oblivion and Oathkeeper. Roxas was shocked to see that Oblivion and Oathkeeper had not appeared, but instead, Frolic Flame and Kingdom Key. He thought for a second and suddenly felt a warmth in his heart: This was Axel and Xion!

"Bring it!" Roxas yelled as he charged, slashing through several of the heartless. The Red Nocturne's multicolored counterparts began appearing, all using different magics to fight. Roxas look at Ven for a second and had an idea.

"Wind!" Roxas said, lifting both Keyblades high into the air and casting _Aeroga_ as he jumped and performed a spinning cyclone strike on the enemy Heartless. Victory. Closer inspection on what he thought was the Kingdom Key revealed that this blades colors were opposite, and the familiar key chain was replaced with a small figurine of Sea-Salt Ice cream. Sora looked at the two new blades from his seat in the stands before he joined Ventus in his congratulatory cheers. Sora was next in the tourney, and as he crossed by Roxas, the blond whispered in his ear as he passed him: "I'm not a Nobody anymore. But if Hades gets his way, you will be." Sora turned around shocked but only saw the twins sitting in the audience, laughing and looking excited to see his match. Ven had no idea who he was sitting next to anymore. The fire in Roxas's eyes glowed brighter than before, and Sora was afraid.

'I'll save you again... I promise!' Sora thought as he stepped on the battlefield. Every smashed Heartless was Hades in his eyes, the monster who was trying to steal away his friend.

***Chapter Completed***


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